Thinking of moving to Oregon, Willamette Valley Area (Portland, Eugene: fit in, home)

[DavePautsch]

OREARak,
the Albany area has lots of nice little neighborhoods to look in; the challenge you will find is that the areas where there are the highest number of rentals available may not be the areas you would eventually buy (which means changing schools potentially for the kids).
Lexington Estates (most of the street names are New Englandish...Boston, Harvard, College, etc...) is one area where there are a few rentals available at any given time. I live in Spring Meadow/Brookfield (street names are all NW animals like Cougar, Bobcat...) but there are less homes available to rent.
I would advise you to check out the Greater Albany Public Schools (www.8j.net) and become familiar with some of the different schools. I will not say anything negative about any of the schools, but I believe there are differences.
Personally, I would be happy to give you more information about the schools that MY kids have attended, about which I can speak with some credibility and confidence.
I've lived in Albany for the past 6 years and my family and I love it here! If there is anything I can do to help make your relocation easier, please feel free to contact me.

Best of luck.

Dave

[Bidding my time]

Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell

The big problem with Californians is that there are 37 million of them. There are 3 million Oregonians, and 1/3 of them are from California. The state's infrastructure is already groaning from the influx.

Hi there. I'm from Idaho and have lived the last five years in California. It was not my choice to move to California. I would like to move to Oregon.
I have a question. You state that the big problem with Californians is that there are 37 million of them. Are you referring to native born Californians or just anyone who lived for awhile in California. 26% of the legal California residents were not even born in the USA; another 35% are from other states. Right now I live on a rural private street in Silverado, CA. There are 11 homes, 22 adults and 7 children. 2 adults and 1 child were born in California; 4 adults and 6 children were born in Oregon; 2 adults were born in other countries(England and Austraila); and 12 adults are from other states and came to California as adults. All these people pay taxes and support the local economy. The two families from Oregon are constantly complaining about California and saying how great Oregon is. I have learned that they are just homesick.

So, am I one of the 37 million or am I from Idaho in your eyes?

[jm21]

Originally Posted by Bidding my time

Hi there. I'm from Idaho and have lived the last five years in California. It was not my choice to move to California. I would like to move to Oregon.
I have a question. You state that the big problem with Californians is that there are 37 million of them. Are you referring to native born Californians or just anyone who lived for awhile in California. 26% of the legal California residents were not even born in the USA; another 35% are from other states. Right now I live on a rural private street in Silverado, CA. There are 11 homes, 22 adults and 7 children. 2 adults and 1 child were born in California; 4 adults and 6 children were born in Oregon; 2 adults were born in other countries(England and Austraila); and 12 adults are from other states and came to California as adults. All these people pay taxes and support the local economy. The two families from Oregon are constantly complaining about California and saying how great Oregon is. I have learned that they are just homesick.

So, am I one of the 37 million or am I from Idaho in your eyes?

I touched on this ona thread over on the TX boards. People from small town OR have pre-conceptions about what people of other races "act like," and similarly have pre-conceptions of what people from other states "act like." A good chunk of Oregonians have never traveled much at all (I had plenty of friends in high school who had literally never set foot outside their hometown). They grew up in very homogeneous neighborhoods and don't really know much outside of it. I'm not saying that's all bad...but it's how it is.

Some stereotypical "Californian" behavior (which isn't necessarily how most Californians act...have to keep disclaiming **** because people get their panties in a bunch on this forum by not reading my entire post) is something like...a horrible, speedy driver who cuts people off all the time and doesn't know the traffic laws...slutty girls and metro guys...drug problems..."gangsta" type behavior...rich guys with trophy wives...bitchy feminazi professional women...rude materialistic people...

Anyways, those are some qualities I've heard thrown around with the term "Californians." If you're fairly conservative, polite, law-abiding, non-materialistic, don't act like a gangsta, a metro, a trophy wife, or a feminazi, don't have a drug problem, aren't filthy rich or terribly materialistic, and drive slightly over the speed limit, no one will guess you lived in California. Basically, a good chunk of Californians aren't "Californians."

EDIT:
These observations don't apply to Portland, which really has very little to do with the rest of OR.

[Patti LeBlanc]

Hi. I am a native Oregonian, and have lived in the Willamette valley my whole life. I have traveled all over the United States, and although the winters do get a little long, with the gloom & wet, Oregon is hard to beat. We have it all! The mountains, the ocean, beautiful forests, and lots of parks. The temperature is pretty mild, with very little snow and ice.

Philomath is a very nice town. The school district just received an excellent rating, one of only a handful in the state. Philomath is 4 miles west of Corvallis, home of Oregon State, Good Samaritan Hospital, and Hewlett Packard.

Have a good day.

[Bidding my time]

I guess the two families that are living on my street here in California even though they are native Oregonians are more Californian than Oregonian. They are liberal; inconsiderate; seem to have visits from the police; have the latest everything; the kids are out of control;
the wives are feminazis, but not professional in anyway; the men are seldom seen but heard; they drink to excess and I consider that a "drug" problem; they drive way to fast. They however aren't filthy rich but say they are here to make a killing. By the way one family is from Myrtle(sp.?) Point; the other from Oakland Oregon.

[jm21]

Originally Posted by Bidding my time

I guess the two families that are living on my street here in California even though they are native Oregonians are more Californian than Oregonian. They are liberal; inconsiderate; seem to have visits from the police; have the latest everything; the kids are out of control;
the wives are feminazis, but not professional in anyway; the men are seldom seen but heard; they drink to excess and I consider that a "drug" problem; they drive way to fast. They however aren't filthy rich but say they are here to make a killing. By the way one family is from Myrtle(sp.?) Point; the other from Oakland Oregon.

If they changed to be like that after going to California, they became californicated, and thus "Californians."

But really, there are people like that from every state...nothing unique to CA. Complaints about the "damn Californians" moving up here are the same as when people say the "damn hippies" are taking over the state government, or the "damn illegals" are taking all the jobs, or the "damn women drivers," who always seem to be almost causing accidents. There's a small bit of truth to each complaint (sometimes extremely small), and people can recite you stories 'til the cows come home, but the reality is the problems are greatly exaggerated. It's just people grumbling. For some reason, people always seem to want to have something to complain about. Well, except for the problem with the damn hippies. hippies will ruin us...ugh...

[little peg]

Originally Posted by miss adventure

Hello Everyone

I have been reading your comments on people from Southern California moving to Oregon. Wow! I didn't realize that we made such a bad impression. I am interested in the Willamette Valley area. What is the climate like? I am looking for a slower paced life. My husband and I plan to move to Oregon within the next year. Are jobs available in the area? I welcome any comments.

Thanks

why don't you give us an idea of the jobs you are interested in and the amount of rent/mortgage you are looking at?

[bobmulk]

There are NO reliable sources that indicate that Oregon is 1/3 Californian. And to the person from Idaho, there are currently 37 million Californians. In other words, 37 million people living in California.

For those of you from California concerned about moving up here and the kind of welcome you'll get--don't worry. No one gives a rip where someone is from. The only people who b**ch about Californians are the ignorant cowards on these posts who don't have the balls to speak to someone's face. You can tell by their attitude when they write that they're not only not terribly bright, but not terribly aware either. They obviously have a problem with Californians for some pathetic reason--kinda like the KKK hating blacks for whatever ridiculous reason.

Pay attention to the intelligent postings and ignore the rants of imbeciles. If Oregon has any drawbacks, it's that we have way too many imbeciles on these posts.

[Silverfall]

The Willamette Valley has many great slow paced towns, including Salem where I live. Coming from Chicago to Portland, Salem's slow pace was a little hard for me at first. Now I gripe if it takes me 20 minutes to get somewhere, way toooo long in Salem driving.

There are a lot of great small towns surrounding Salem that are close enough for you to have access to everything you need, if you want a small town feel. Salem is the capitol, so the state jobs are #1 here in terms of employment. Salem is not a high tech town, so I guess in terms of jobs it depends on your field.

There is a community college, two private universities, and two state ones fairly close in Monmouth and then Corvallis. Most Oregonians are "transplants" from everywhere else. Oregon has grown so much in the 16 years that I have lived here.

Maybe if you state more of what you are looking for, the members of the forum could direct you a little bit better.

[roz5555]

I'll probably lose this place like I did before, however! I lived in/around Mill City and Stayton and Salem for only several months. A native San Franciscan, the BIGGEST mistake I made was telling anyone I was from SF. Hoooeeee! Most everyone, including people who know me to be quite conservative and not at all 'poshed', were quite frosty. Sure, sure, it's a nice place. The cost of living: the only appreciable diff from CA: the rent prices and the price of most homes. Gas is close to the same; food's the same. But brother! is it hard to find a job that pays more that $8 an hour.....